IN THIS ISSUE · SPRING 2026 — Read the cover story
COOKEVILLE, TENN. — Blair Martin thought her water had broken. Within minutes, she would learn the truth was far more urgent: she was bleeding very heavily, and both she and her unborn baby were in immediate danger.
What happened next, in the span of just forty minutes on a Sunday night in January, would become a story of life-saving teamwork, medical excellence, and what Blair calls divine intervention.
Blair had been carefully monitored throughout her pregnancy after being diagnosed with complete placenta previa in her second trimester. Under the care of Dr. Paige Gernt, an OBGYN at Cookeville Regional Medical Center, she was scheduled for a cesarean section on January 27.
But the week leading up to January 11 felt different.
“The entire week it felt like I was having a baby,” Blair recalls. “A lot of pressure.”
Then, at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 11, everything changed. What Blair thought was her water breaking was actually heavy bleeding, also known as a hemorrhage. The hemorrhage was due to her complete placenta previa, which can become a life-threatening emergency for both the mom and baby due to blood loss and oxygen deprivation.
Blair and her husband Mark immediately called 911. When emergency responders arrived, Blair recalls what happened.
“They were great,” she says simply. “One of the first responders got on his knees and asked me what he could do as we heard the ambulance in the distance on its way to us. I just told him to please pray.”
The EMTs rushed Blair to Cookeville Regional Medical Center, where the team was ready. She arrived at the hospital and was taken directly to the operating room, where staff immediately began checking for the baby’s heartbeat.
They found it.
Blair, fully aware of the gravity of the situation, asked the staff to deliver a message. “I told them to tell my husband, mom, and dad I loved them,” she remembers.
At 12:05 a.m., the surgical team began the emergency cesarean section. Ten minutes later, at 12:15 a.m., Fallon Mazie Martin entered the world.
“When I woke up, I had a baby,” Blair says, still amazed by the speed and precision of the team that saved her life and her daughter’s.
One small gesture became a symbol of that care. When Blair arrived at the hospital, one of the nurses gave her a ponytail holder to pull her hair back. “Today, it is my lucky ponytail holder,” she says.
Blair credits an entire team of healthcare professionals for the care she and Fallon received. The night shift nurses Angela Houston, RN; Chelsea Hare, RN; Katie Anne Griffin, RN; and Danielle Hawkins, RN and others, including Danielle Dailey, CNM, who worked alongside Dr. Gernt through the emergency.
Pediatricians Christine Krier, DO, and Emma King, MD, from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, cared for Fallon immediately after birth and throughout her hospital stay.
“The experience here was amazing, from bottle feeding and breastfeeding, all the things,” Blair says. “The staff took care of me and helped me become a mom. They saved us.”
For Blair, the medical expertise was matched by something greater. “God was in my story,” she says with certainty.
Erin Hedgecoth, Director of the Birthing Center at Cookeville Regional, shared, “It can be emotionally overwhelming for a patient if they come in with a pregnancy related complication requiring an emergency cesarean section. We try to focus on remaining calm and working quickly and efficiently to ensure a safe delivery for both mom and baby, but we are also conscious of their emotional needs and want to provide support and reassurance as well.”
Today, both Blair and Fallon are thriving at home. When Blair thinks back to that terrifying Sunday night, she thinks about the ten minutes that changed everything, and the team that made those minutes count.
“I can’t say thank you enough,” she says. “All the night shift nurses, Dr. Gernt, the pediatricians, EMS, the day shift nurses who cared for my baby. They saved us.”
In a region where access to advanced medical care can mean the difference between life and death, stories like Blair’s remind the Upper Cumberland community why Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s services matter, and ensure that when midnight emergencies strike, expert care is ready and waiting.
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Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s Labor and Delivery unit provides comprehensive obstetric care, including high-risk pregnancy management and emergency services, to families throughout the Upper Cumberland region. With private labor, delivery, recovery rooms, in-unit surgical suites, private post-partum rooms, lactation consultants and more, the Birthing Center supports patient’s transition from hospital to home. Pediatricians provided from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
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